I went through a fairly intense Lily Allen phase in seventh grade. It wore off when she didn’t release anything for over five years, but now she’s finally back.
With “Sheezus,” Allen went for a more electronic style than her previous releases, but that isn’t surprising given the genre’s popularity.
The title track is sort of an apology for her absence, and she critiques female pop stars, saying “Ri-Ri isn’t scared of Katy Perry’s roaring/Queen B’s going back to the drawing.” She also says some stuff about menstruation, which is pretty weird, but whatever. It’s catchy enough that I’ll probably start sing-saying “Give yourselves to me, I am your leader/Let me be Sheezus” to people when appropriate (and inappropriate, to be honest).
“L8 Cmmr” is overly-autotuned, thinly veiled innuendo.
“Air Balloon” is super poppy but lacks Allen’s usual witty lyrics, and it mainly demonstrates her lack of understanding about meteorology.
“Our Time” sounds more like the Lily Allen 13-year-old me is used to, and would probably make a great girl-pop summer anthem, if you’re looking for one of those.
“Insincerely Yours” apparently sparked some kind of celebrity Twitter fight because Allen called a model’s kids ugly. Whatever.
The most melodic song on the album is “Take My Place,” a soft ballad with less obvious autotune than other tracks. It definitely sounds like something that could have been on her previous album, “It’s Not Me, It’s You.”
“As Long as I Got You” is actually one of the cringiest songs I’ve ever heard, but it’s still sort of endearing. It’s sort of funny… in a cute way? But also really cheesy? I don’t get the accordion part at all though.
“Close Your Eyes” is more innuendo, but there’s a little bit less autotune this time, so that’s nice.
“URL Badman” is pretty good for the first minute, but the dubstep elements aren’t great. The lyrics, which poke fun at “Keyboard Warrior[s] that can’t spell,” are pretty good, though.
“Silver Spoon” is catchy and sort of funny, but it mostly just taught me that Lily Allen is snobby. Still decent.
“Life for Me” also sounds like something that could have come from a previous Lily Allen album, although the lyrics are uncharacteristically sincere.
“Hard out Here” is my favorite track. I don’t even want to describe it. Just listen.
While the tracks on this album pale in comparison to Allen’s previous albums, it’s clear that she’s back (although not better than ever). Overall, “Sheezus” is a snappy pop album with songs worthy of a spot on many a summer playlist.
Stream the album through iTunes Radio here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/station/first-play-lily-allen-sheezus/idra.852670089
